Danse Macabre: The Most Beautiful Film In The World

I first saw Danse Macabre, a film by Pedro Pires, at Edinburgh's Dead By Dawn Festival in October 2010. I think I must have watched the whole film with my jaw hanging open. It was visually stunning and the concept was beautiful. I really don't even know how to summarise what an impact it has had upon me! I found out today that I could finally buy the entire film from iTunes and it really has made my year in regards to being an audience member.

Here's the trailer:

Long Shot Film Festival 2011

I am very happy to announce that my short film 'Resume' has been selected to be screened as part of the Long Shot Film Festival!

It's my first proper screening of any film that I have created so I'm super happy and excited!!

You can buy a ticket for a mere £5 from here if you'd like to come along!! There is an audience award category, so keep your fingers crossed for me!

Urban Exploration

I'm a huge fan of abandoned, deserted places that time forgot. I think there is an incredible beauty in the quiet, isolatedness of a place where no one goes anymore. Recently I've been looking at more and more blogs about the exploration of abandoned places and a lot of the photos I've seen have really moved me. Strange but true! One of the best, if not the best blog I came across was by Michael John Grist's website (I hope he doesn't mind me linking to his site). I spent around 2 hours looking at his photos and reading about his trips exploring locations and felt that I'd been trekking round Japan with him! I'd really recommend having a good read of his website and it's very entertaining.

Recently, I discovered a way into an abandoned airfield within a few miles of where I live. I'm amazed to think that it was there all this time and I had no clue!! So I dragged my poor boyfriend around for a quick look whilst we were looking for locations for Project Black. We only had around 20 minutes before we needed to get back to meet the rest of the crew, but this was long enough to find the control tower and spot a bunker style tunnel.

As soon as I had to be dragged away I wanted to go back. So I planned to go back the following week. We managed to have a good look around pretty much the whole airfield, including the control tower, 2 bunkers, the reservoir and all of the runways. It's amazing!! We did get stopped by a guy who said part of it was private land and asked us to leave. It was a shame but we left without fuss as we'd seen most of what we wanted to anyway. I think I'm going to leave it at least a few months until I go back to see what changes occur.

Here are some photos I took, I'm no photographer, but they're nice to look at methinks and not bad for my first go!:

Toxic Barrel

Mini Runway

Caution: Height Restrictions

Control Point

Start/Finish

Reminants of a Party

Stairs

Switch

Radio Receiver

The Hungry Caterpillar

Lonely Hut

Yellow

Tunnels

Hidden Tunnel

Empty Reservoir

Scattered Seats

Handprints

Love

Silhouette

Things I Love This Week

Vivienne Westwood Shoes - Two new pairs!! A gorgeous grey heel with thick ankle cuff and a kitten heeled, pointy black slip on shoe with a skull on!! Awesome.

Raindance Saturday Film School - Very informative and creative, Elliot Groves is a genius. 

Red Hot World Buffett - Good range of food, nice night out with the work ladies.

Christmas Shopping - I have officially started and have a present for my mum!

Project Black - Nearly finished!!

Onesie - I officially own a leopard print all in one pyjama suit.

Things I Love This Week

Nine Inch Nail's 'Still' Album - Amazing! Perfect mood altering/movie score music!

Vintage Movie Cameras - I now have 5 after starting a collection only last week! Going to try and fix them to see if I can get them working. If not, they're pretty to look at.

The Mighty Boosh - Comedy gold.

David Guetta - He's come out with plenty of songs I like, but I'm over the moon that the boyfriend got to cook for him at work whilst he was staying in the hotel before playing at Creamfields!

Project Black - Had a blast shooting it, really sad to see it end though.

Golden Syrup - Sooooo tasty! Especially on ice cream.

Things I Love This Week

My New iMac - Very confusing for a non-Mac user, but I'm slowly getting there!

Promotion At Work - I got promoted to Senior Sales Assistant after wanting it for a good while! Very happy!

Filming - It's good to be finally shooting Project Black after all that planning and casting!! Find us on Facebook here: Project Black Facebook Page

Nandos - Nom nom nom

My Birthday - I suppose being 23 isn't that bad so far...

The Mighty Boosh - Quality programming!!!

Film Adaptation: One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

Another essay from my uni days, this one was part of a Film Adaptation module during my second year at TASC

Discuss the fidelity of the film adaptation of Ken Kesey's 'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest' in relation to audience theories; including the reception of the film and the difference between readers of the novel and viewers of the film.

One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest was a 1962 novel written by American author Ken Kesey. It was adapted into a film of the same name in 1975. Actor Kirk Douglas originally played RP McMurphy in a stage version of the novel, after purchasing the rights to film the piece he passed them onto his son, fellow actor Michael Douglas who set into motion the production of the film whom also acted as producer for the film (Dirks). It was claimed that the film was made in order to appeal more to contemporary audiences. At the time, the now all-star cast were all relatively unknown, the film propelling their careers due to its critical acclaim, both as a film and also in novel form.

The film is set in a mental hospital in the 1960s and followed a group of patients on an all male ward. Kesey himself had spent time as a guinea pig for experimental drugs as well as an aide on a ward in a hospital in Oregon, and based his novel loosely upon his experiences and patients whom he had met during this time (Huffman, 2002). The novel is told from the point of view of a large Indian patient known as Chief Bromden, whereas the film is told from a more neutral view point, but closely follows McMurphy. The story begins when McMurphy is brought onto the ward after his behaviour becomes questionable whilst serving a prison sentence working on a farm after committing a string of crimes, the latest of which being statutory rape. The rest of the plot continues on, showing the reader and view what everyday life in the asylum is like. However McMurphy, not content with this, sneaks prostitutes onto the ward, gambles with the other patients and in the film, steals a bus and boat in order to take the men fishing (Dirks) (Kesey, 1962) (Forman, 1975).

Bucket List

I have decided to start a Bucket List. A list of things I want to do before I die, in no particular order. I'll keep updating it as life goes on!

*To produce a horror film that causes uproar because of its controversial content
*To have a successful career within the film industry, ultimately culminating with being a (paid!) producer
*To make a success of Little Lost Pegasus Films
*To have one of my own produced films shown in an art house cinema
*To watch every film on the Video Nasties list
*To produce fashion films for good designers
*To shoot music videos for bands that may actually make it big
*To shoot a Video Nasty style film of my own
*To meet Jack Nicholson
*To dive with sharks in the sea
*To compete in Show Jumping once again
*To own my own horse
*To do a charity ride (across a desert or up a mountain)
*To visit the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California
*To properly visit Egypt
*To own more than 5 pieces by Vivienne Westwood, Alexander McQueen and Chanel
*To get married in a Vera Wang wedding dress
*To UrbEx at least 10 places
*To have an inspiring mentor
*To be able to watch at least 5 films a week for most weeks

Well that's it for now, I'm sure I'll add to it at a later date!